Snip
by FutureCullen22
Summary: Oneshot. Leah cuts her hair soon after becoming a werewolf. LPOV.


**I was going to continue on my two-shot last night but Leah's story came out instead. She was just begging to rant. Hope you guys like it.**

**Disclaimer: Leah and all the other Twilight characters belong solely to the amazing Stephenie Meyer!**

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I make my way slowly into Emily's house. Feeling exhausted, dirty, and miserable after spending nearly five days in the woods, struggling to escape the monstrous body I was trapped in.

I've missed my own father's funeral. But if it weren't for me, he wouldn't have needed a funeral.

My hands are trembling. I pray I don't phase again.

Sam follows close behind me and I can feel his watchful eyes on my back. Probably preparing himself to wrestle me outside if my new Big-Bad-Wolf instinct takes over around his precious Emily. I've now seen his mind and know that he does hold concern for me. Or maybe pity is a better word. Pity that is easily outweighed by his huge, suffocating, puppy-dog love for my cousin.

Imprinting. Blargh.

We enter the kitchen and Emily turns toward us, the unscarred half of her face dripping with sympathy. Sincere sympathy, knowing Emily, but it's too much. I look away, concentrating on the floral print tablecloth.

I hear Sam cross the room to her and then there's silence except for the humming of the fridge. I peek at them from behind the curtain of my hair and see them staring intently into each other's eyes. Communicating silently. Talking about me behind my back. Right in front of me. Weird.

Now that I know about imprinting, I feel stupid for not guessing anything supernatural was going on. Their love was an unnatural thing. Sickly sweet. Like it came straight out of a cheesy romance novel. Except real. Way too real.

I am biased, of course.

The exhaustion of the past days hits me and I sink into a chair, resting my head in my hands. I feel numb. I know this feeling won't last though, and I want to be at home before everything hits me.

Emily footstep's approach me softly. "Leah?" she asks tentatively. "Are you hungry? Can I get you anything?"

I shake my head. Common sense tells me I should be hungry after five days on an empty stomach. (I had refused to hunt. Blech) But just the mention of food makes my stomach queasy.

I raise my head wearily. "I just want to go home. Take a shower and sleep." I pick a stray leaf from my hair and frown at it. "My hair's a mess."

"You'll have to cut it off." Sam's voice comes abruptly from across the room.

I frown at him, uncomprehending.

"What?"

He shifts uncomfortably, looks down at his feet. _Big tough Alpha can't even look his ex in the eye._

"Your hair. You need to cut it off. All of it."

"Why." My voice is flat, furious. Sam is watching my hands, his brows furrowed. I look down to see them shaking, violently. I concentrate on them until they stop.

"Why?" I ask again, keeping my eyes on my clenched fists.

"The longer your hair, the longer your…fur."

I remember being a wolf, wondering briefly why my fur was so much longer than theirs. Annoyingly long. I could hardly see out of it.

I close my eyes tightly. This all had to be a bad dream. I'd wake up and be normal, human. Dad would be alive. And heck, while we're at it, Sam would love me again.

Who was I kidding? This nightmare was real.

"I'm not going to cut my hair." I could deal with the long fur. Honestly, I could. I planned to spend as little time as possible in that form anyway.

"Yes you are." His voice was sure and authoritative.

My eyes fly open and I glare at him. "Why should I?"

"Because I am your Alpha and I'm telling you to!"

Time seems to stand still, our eyes locked in fury for what seems like a lifetime.

"Fine." I snap, pushing up from the table, the chair clattering backwards behind me. I brush past an apologetic looking Emily and rifle through the kitchen drawers until I find a pair of kitchen shears. Sam's eyes follow me down the hallway.

I enter Emily's matchbox-sized bathroom, slamming the door behind me. I face my furious reflection in the mirror and take a fistful of hair in one hand. I hold up the shears but my hand is shaking too violently.

I close my eyes a take a deep breath, calming myself. Before I can rethink it, I squeeze down on the shears' handles. _Snip._

"_Lee-lee!"_

The memory hits hard, taking my breath away. I double over gasping, stinging tears escaping my eyes.

_Me and Sam are sprawled across my bed, my Algebra book open in front of me. Sam buries his face in my hair. "Mmmm…" he breathes, nuzzling my neck. "I love your hair, Lee-lee."_

_I shove him away, laughing "I'm trying to study!" _

_He flops back on my bed with a mock sigh. "Fine." I feel him gather a handful of hair in his hands, playing with it, twisting it around his fingers. "Hey, Lee-lee?"_

"_Hmm?" I'm trying to concentrate on percentages. He's making it difficult. _

"_Promise me you'll never cut your hair."_

_I roll my eyes at him. "Sometimes I think you love my hair more than you love me."_

"_Never!" He pounces on me, covering my face in playful kisses. I giggle protests and shove him away again. _

_He gazes lovingly at me, making me blush. "Your hair just adds to everything else I love about you."_

I force myself out of the memory and swipe angrily at the traitorous tears. I was done crying. I had promised myself that.

I raise the kitchen shears to my head again and glare defiantly at myself in the mirror as I snip again.

Another memory hits as I watch the shiny black lock fall to the floor.

_I'm sitting on my daddy's lap, fresh out of my bath, letting him brush my long hair. _

"_My Leah is the prettiest girl in all of La Push!" _

_I grin up at him, adoringly. "But La Push is tiny, Daddy!"_

_He grins back at me. "In all the world then!"_

_I snuggle into his chest and he leans down to kiss my forehead…_

The tears are coming more heavily now. I push the heels of my hands against my eyes trying to stem the flow.

My daddy is gone. Dead. My Sam is gone too. He's Emily's Sam now. I owe nothing to either of them anymore.

I raise the shears again, determined.

_Snip._

_Sam running his fingers through my hair._

_Snip._

_Mom braiding my hair for school._

_Snip._

_Me and Emily, combing each other's hair. Laughing together, both of us innocent and unblemished. Now both of us are scarred, ruined. Her on the outside, me on the inside._

The faster I cut, the faster the memories come. And the faster the memories come, the faster I cut.

_Snip._

"_Promise me you'll never cut your hair." Sam's eyes. Soft, loving._

_Snip._

"_You need to cut it off. All of it." Sam's eyes. Hard. Unyielding._

_Snip._

_Sam kissing me._

_Snip._

_Sam kissing Emily._

_Snip. _

_Dad. Alive. Happy._

_Snip._

_Dad. Dead. Cold. _

_Snip._

_Leah Clearwater: loved, happy, human._

_Snip._

_Leah Clearwater: scorned, hated, werewolf._

I'm almost done now. The tears are running freely. I look at myself in the mirror and hardly recognize me. My hair is shorn and short and ugly. My eyes are red. There is hardly a trace of the Leah that Sam Uley used to love. The Leah that used to be Harry Clearwater's adored daughter. Good. That's the way it should be.

I washed my face, trying to erase all evidence of the tears. I open the bathroom door and step over the pile of ebony hair. Someone else can clean it up. I don't have the heart too.

I walk quickly through the house, not meeting the pitied looks I can feel from Sam and Emily. I push past the group of half-naked boys who are entering the house as I'm leaving. They stare openly.

I feel my body start to shake violently as I walk towards home. I grit my teeth in frustration but my body goes against my will and in moments I am a wolf.

_Leah? That you?_ Embry Call's voice breaks into my mind.

_Get out! _I snarl. The last thing I need right now is company.

_O-Okay_ He stutters. _You're taking my shift then…_

His mind fades out and I sigh with relief. Once I'm safely concealed in the forest I take off in a sprint. If there's anything good about this nightmare, it's the speed that comes with my new form.

I push myself faster, letting the adrenaline take over and leaving the remnants of Leah Clearwater behind.

**I suck at story endings. It's a known fact. Please forgive me if that was one of my bad endings. **

**But if you did enjoy it…please remember to send a review! They make me extremely happy! And I will send you a hug and an imaginary Edward doll in return.**

**Yours Truly,**

**FutureCullen22**


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